20,584 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by MidFirst Bank

MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. SG Trading Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,406,000. Titan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $956,000. Nolet Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Finally, Sonoma Allocations LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $342,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $352.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $198.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $130.90 and a twelve month high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.35.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Ridgeback Group agreed to buy Metra Living for £1.045 billion, expanding MS into U.K. rental housing and underscoring its private-markets and real estate growth strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS) Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Morgan Stanley is also benefiting from renewed investor enthusiasm for banks, with the broader financial sector hitting records ahead of the Fed meeting, which is helping support MS sentiment. Big Bank Stocks Hit Records Ahead of Fed Meeting
• Positive Sentiment: News flow continues to frame MS as a long-term growth and wealth-management winner, with commentary highlighting its ambition to reach $10 trillion in client assets and potential upside from a future SpaceX IPO mandate. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Morgan Stanley today were mostly research-related, including notes on oil and sector calls, which are more likely to affect sentiment around specific industries than MS’s core earnings outlook.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.